Malala Yousafzai Graduates from Oxford Eight Years After Taliban Shot Her
New Age Islam News Bureau
20
Jun 2020
Malala Yousafzai was an advocate for women's education when she was shot by the Taliban.
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• Afghan Female Cyclist in France Prepares for Olympics
•
Arab Israeli Woman Draws Surfers to Her Fishing Village
•
Imprisoned Saudi Princess Lost All Contact with Family Who Have 'No Idea'
Whether She's Dead or Alive: Report
•
Education and Employment Initiatives for Afghan Women
•
Women of Anatolian Nomadic Tribe Lead Yearly Migration
•
Muslim Woman Arrested in Miami Protest Forced To Remove Hijab For Booking Photo
•
Women’s Participation in Sports In Saudi Arabia Rose By 149 Percent Since 2015:
Minister
•
Years After Liberation, Syrian Women Still Trying to Recover From Daesh Brutalities
•
Sexual Threat Against HDP Leader’s Wife Backfires as Turks Rally Around Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/malala-yousafzai-graduates-oxford-eight/d/122171
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Malala
Yousafzai graduates from Oxford eight years after Taliban shot her
Jamie
Prentis
June
19, 2020
Eight
years after being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’
education in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai has graduated from the most prestigious
course on offer at Oxford University.
Malala
✔
@Malala
Hard
to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my Philosophy,
Politics and Economics degree at Oxford. I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it
will be Netflix, reading and sleep. 😴
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The
Nobel Prize winner and activist, 22, shared images on Twitter of herself
smiling, covered in celebratory cake and confetti.
“Hard
to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my philosophy,
politics and economics degree at Oxford,” she wrote.
“I
don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep.”
Philosophy,
politics and economics at Oxford is renowned for developing political leaders
including former UK prime minister David Cameron and Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto
and Imran Khan.
Ms
Yousafzai first rose to prominence at the age of 11 after blogging about life
under the Taliban, but after angering the extremist group for speaking out she
was shot and nearly died in October 2012.
Ms
Yousafzai was flown to Britain for medical treatment and settled in the city of
Birmingham.
She
was at school there when she heard in 2014 that she had won the Nobel Peace
Prize along with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi "for their struggle
against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all
children to education".
The
youngest ever Nobel laureate at the time, she has continued to speak out for
girls' education.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/malala-yousafzai-graduates-from-oxford-eight-years-after-taliban-shot-her-1.1036078
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Afghan
Female Cyclist in France Prepares for Olympics
June
20, 2020
Afghan
female cyclist Masooma Alizada, a former member of the Afghan national cycling
team who a now living in France, has been nominated for next year’s Olympics
Games, competing for the Refugee Olympic Team.
Masooma
trains in a club in France and is hopeful that she will return to the country
and boost cycling here in Afghanistan.
“I
was selected for the Olympic games for the migrants’ team (Refugee Olympic
Team) with 100 other athletes in 2019,” she said.
The
head of Afghanistan’s Cycling Federation, Fazl Ahmad Fazli, said he hopes that
Masooma will succeed in the Olympics in Tokyo.
“It
is good news that Masooma Alizada has been selected for the games,” he said. “I
believe that Masooma Alizada has the ability to perform well in the
competition. It is a big achievement for Afghan female athletes.”
In
France, Masooma attended a cycling competition in 2016, representing
Afghanistan, and she won second place and was invited to join a cycling club
afterwards.
“In
the competition in 2016, my sister me and sister Zahra Alizada got the second and third position
respectively,” she said. “It is my goal to return to Afghanistan one day to
work for women’s cycling.”
She
has been a member of Afghanistan's national cycling team since 2017.
https://tolonews.com/sport/afghan-female-cyclist-france-prepares-olympics
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Arab
Israeli woman draws surfers to her fishing village
June
20, 2020
JISR
AL-ZARQA: Standing barefoot on an Israeli beach, Hamama Jarban blew her whistle
and watched her students race toward the water clutching their colorful
surfboards.
Each
weekend she welcomes enthusiastic would-be surfers to the shore, teaching them
how to lie and then stand on their boards.
“I
am a child of the sea, my father used to throw us in the water when we were
little and tell us to swim,” she said.
Wearing
a black wetsuit and cap, the 41-year-old’s surfing venture brings much needed
income to Jisr Al-Zarqa, the only remaining Arab village on Israel’s
Mediterraean coast and one of the poorest in the north.
Her
father, together with her grandfather, also taught her how to fish, but Jisr
Al-Zarqa is nowadays subject to environmental restrictions on fishing.
Arabs
constitute around 20 percent of Israel’s 9 million-strong population and say
they are discriminated against by the Jewish state.
Jarban
received qualifications as a surfing and swimming instructor, as well as a
lifeguard, from Israel’s leading sports training facility, the Wingate
Institute.
Along
with her brother Mohammed, she started teaching surfing 6 years ago to children
and young adults from the village and elsewhere in northern Israel.
While
most of the surfers are Israeli Arabs, Jarban said she once taught two Jewish
girls on holiday from Jerusalem.
On
one Saturday morning, some of the young recruits wore blue tops with the club’s
“Surfing 4 Peace” logo across the back.
Thirteen-year-old
Sari Ammash said he still finds it hard to balance on the surfboard, but has
gained better control since starting lessons last year.
The
beach sits in an idyllic spot, close to a forest and a river that the surfers
must cross before starting their lesson.
Ream,
a 21-year-old architecture student, travels more than 30 km for the lessons.
“I
love sport, I used to play basketball, and now I enjoy training with Hamama,”
she said.
Jarban
also works as a lifeguard in summer and volunteers with the maritime rescue
unit in Caesarea, a nearby upmarket coastal resort.
The
contrast with her village — with its overcrowded housing and narrow streets —
could not be starker.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a home in Caesarea.
To
physically separate the two places, in 2002 a 5-meter-high dirt wall was
erected, which Caesarea residents said was intended to shield them from the
noise of the Muslim call to prayer, as well as village parties.
The
barrier runs for 1.5 kilometers (about a mile) and has been planted with
flowers and trees by the resort town’s residents.
In
Jisr Al-Zarqa, tin shacks line the shore, while fishing boats bob at anchor,
left idle by a dispute over fishing rights.
The
Israel Nature and Parks Authority gave the area environmental protection in
2010, restricting fishing and coastal construction.
Villagers
say they were promised development and infrastructure in return, but this never
came.
A
spokeswoman from the parks authority said they have worked with the village
council to invest funds and build a promenade, while stopping construction work
on the protected land.
“People
should dismantle any building that is not legal, we have inspectors to watch,”
she told AFP.
Jarban
has herself become embroiled in a dispute after building a wooden hut to store
surfboards.
In
a letter from the authority seen by AFP, she was ordered last month to demolish
it or face legal action.
“We
have suffered heavy losses,” Jarban said of her village.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1692526/middle-east
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Imprisoned
Saudi princess lost all contact with family who have 'no idea' whether she's
dead or alive: report
June
15, 2020
Relatives
of a Saudi Arabian princess, who has purportedly remained imprisoned for over a
year after trying to fly to Europe for routine medical care, are now fearing
the worst about her health, claiming that they have not been able to get in
contact with her since April.
Saudi
Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz, 56, who is a prominent human rights
activist, and her daughter Souhoud Al-Sharif, 28, were “kidnapped” from their
home in the western port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 1, 2019. What
happened to her after that remained a mystery to the outside world until 13
months later.
On
April 17, 2020, a series of tweets from the princess’ verified Twitter account,
which were soon deleted and then reposted on April 27, 2020, pleaded for her
cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to release her from the Al-Ha'ir
Prison, a maximum-security prison located approximately 25 miles south of
Riyadh, the Persian Gulf kingdom's capital.
It
has been nearly two months since relatives have been able to contact the
princess over the phone, according to a report published Sunday by NBC News. An
unnamed “family confidant” said if “she’s dead or alive we have no idea, we
literally have no single clue.”
“My
health is continuously deteriorating which may lead to my death, it’s VERY
critical, and they know it,” read a letter purportedly written by the princess
and repeatedly posted and reposted on her Twitter account throughout the month
of April.
“This
week Muslims around the globe begin our holy week of Ramadan, one that most of
us shall spend with family, even if much limited owing to the ongoing pandemic,”
the letter said.
It
continued: “In this month of mercy, our holy Ramadan, I once more call upon my
uncle, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and my
cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, to find it in their hearts
the sense of justice that ought to be impregnated in any Muslim during Ramadan,
and beyond, and reminisce their relative held arbitrarily in the worst
conditions possible, in spite of her service for the kingdom.”
The
letter also claims Ha'ir prison officials have repeatedly stated the mother and
daughter are not subject to any charges or an ongoing investigation, yet they
remain imprisoned.
On
May 13, a tweet from her verified account but signed HRH (Her Royal Highness)
Media Office said relatives have not been able to contact the princess since
her public cry for help in April.
“The
direct and indirect weekly communications from Princess Basmah bint Saud with
her family have been cut off completely since the tweet on April 17th, 2020. We
have not received any information about her deteriorating health or legal
status,” the media office said.
“The
silence on her health and legal status is disturbing. It has been kept secret
in her homeland and from her relatives,” the office continued. “The media
office is hereby urgently requesting the authorities, once more, during this
month of Ramadan, to compassionately free Princess Basmah and her daughter,
Souhoud Al-Sharif, who were arrested on March 1st, 2019 without charge.”
The
office tagged President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, among other American officials.
Before
the princess was “abducted” from her home, she had reportedly been on house
arrest under 24/7 surveillance after trying to leave Saudi Arabia to head to
Switzerland for medical care in December 2018, German broadcaster Deutsche
Welle reported.
Her
flight – ultimately bound for Geneva – was expected to stop in Turkey, which
was considered an enemy of Saudi Arabia at the time. But she never boarded the
plane and was reportedly stopped by men at her home before heading to the
airport.
The
Gulf Kingdom has received widespread condemnation after a United Nations
investigation found Saudi officials were likely responsible for killing and
dismembering Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, a journalist and Washington Post columnist,
inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.
The
princess is the granddaughter of the country’s founding king, Abdul Aziz Ibn
Saud, and the daughter to its second ruler, the later King Saud bin Abdulaziz.
Relatives suspect she may have been detained after seeking her
multi-billion-euro inheritance, Insider reported.
She
worked as a businesswoman and human rights activist and had spoken both at
Cambridge University and in Washington, D.C. on the role of women in the Middle
East.
In
November 2017, hundreds of Saudi royals were detained inside The Ritz-Carlton
Hotel in the capital city of Riyadh. They were forced to pledge their
allegiance to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and sign away most of their
assets in order to secure their release.
Although
male members of the Saudi royal family have been rounded up in the past, the
princess is one of the first female family members known to be targeted –
presumably because of her international role advocating for women’s rights.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/saudi-arabia-princess-prison-cut-off-contact-prison-dead-alive
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Education
and Employment Initiatives for Afghan Women
JUNE
8, 2020
SEATTLE,
Washington — In Afghanistan, women are notoriously overlooked and discriminated
against. Women in Afghanistan do not have simple liberties that most women in
other countries have rights and access to. Particularly within the fields of
education and employment, women are deprived of access to these opportunities.
This lack of equality led to education and employment initiatives for Afghan
women so they can freely have access to government, military and church
positions.
Unfortunately,
the Afghan government fails to support women’s rights in Afghanistan. This failure
ensures there is still a sizable chance the fight for women’s rights will
continue to stagnant or even regress. However, the current fight for women’s
rights and opportunities in Afghanistan progresses.
Government
and the Taliban in Afghanistan
The
Taliban maintains a lack of support for women’s rights in Afghanistan. This
lack of support caused controversy among women and the Taliban. The Taliban has
a history that displays violence against women and young girls and lacks
support for women’s rights. Also highlighted is the failure to support basic
human rights in Afghanistan. Amongst these rights are education and employment,
which are two of the main issues for women living in Afghanistan.
The
Afghan government is inconsistent in its support of women’s rights. Recently,
some administrations have avoided or turned their backs on the issues that are
plaguing women in their country. This lack of support from their government on
issues such as inclusion in government, education and employment only hurts the
campaign of women to improve their situations and gain basic rights. The Afghan
government has been inconsistent in its support. Fortunately, this has only
made activists fighting for women’s rights rally together stronger and continue
to gain allies.
Education
and Employment Initiatives
Women
and activists do have a few allies who are willing to help ensure that women
receive their rights and have the chance to gain more opportunities in
Afghanistan. The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) are two major allies for women in Afghanistan. Both partners are working
on education and employment initiatives for Afghan women.
As
a part of the initiative, the EU and UNDP seek to provide women with more
opportunities for education and employment by helping women flourish in college
or higher education. Both parties are ensuring that women can graduate from
schools and receive training and education in their fields and degrees. This
initiative will send at least 50 women to schools where they can excel in
fields of agriculture and statistics between 2020 and 2025. The goal of this
initiative is to ensure that women will experience key economic growth and
opportunities within the next five years. This initiative between the EU and
UNDP will help create more equity for Afghan women.
Another
ally for women’s rights in Afghanistan is the nonprofit organization Women for
Women International. Women are behind this organization, acting as the driving
force for change in Afghanistan. Women for Women International believes in
empowering women to be at the center of change for the education and employment
initiative for Afghan women. Empowered, they will have a better chance to
sustain change and development. This organization brings women together to
address concerns such as economic and social obstacles that continue to cause
issues for women in Afghanistan. It believes that the knowledge and awareness
that it shares will empower women to help change their scenarios in
Afghanistan.
Looking
to the Future
The
fight for women’s rights in Afghanistan is lengthy and continuous. The
inconsistent support for their rights by the Afghan government and the
Taliban’s actions have only made it harder to overcome the discrimination and
lack of women’s rights. The good news is that women in Afghanistan have allies
that support the education and employment initiatives for Afghan women.
The
EU and UNDP are fighting for women’s rights by granting 50 women education.
Education will help women access future opportunities for employment. This
initiative is determined to help women economically in Afghanistan. Women for
Women International assists women in Afghanistan as well. It encourages women
to empower one another and bring awareness to women in Afghanistan who are
seeking equality. The EU and UNDP believe this is the center of change for
women in Afghanistan and will ensure that continued success can be achieved by
women.
https://www.borgenmagazine.com/education-and-employment-initiatives-for-afghan-women/
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Women
of Anatolian nomadic tribe lead yearly migration
June
20 2020
The
Sarıkeçili tribe treks the cool highlands of Anatolia every year come spring,
grazing their animals, and the women of the Yörük Turkic ethnic group are
indispensable to this tough migration.
Continuing
their stay in the cool and fertile Tuğlu Plateau in the western Anatolian
province of Afyonkarahisar’s Hocalar district, Sarıkeçili nomads spend every
day working in makeshift tents in difficult living conditions.
Yörük
women wake up every morning with sunrise and prepare breakfast for the
shepherds who will climb pastures to graze their goats.
Later,
women start housework, cook and make cheese from milks, complete milking the
goats returning from the pastures towards sunset for use in cheese making the
next day.
“This
lifestyle continues the same for six months of the year,” Firdevs Şahin, a
Yörük woman, said.
“Our
only source of income is from small ruminants and the products we obtain from
it,” added Şahin.
The
Sarikeçili are a tribe within the Yörük group, a semi-nomadic pastoral Turkish
people that is one of the oldest in Turkey. They have been crisscrossing
Anatolia for centuries.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/women-of-anatolian-nomadic-tribe-lead-yearly-migration-155833
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Muslim
woman arrested in Miami protest forced to remove hijab for booking photo
June
20, 2020
By
Wilson Wong
A
Muslim woman arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest in Miami was forced
to remove her hijab for a booking photo, which a Muslim civil rights advocate
called a “severe violation of religious freedoms.”
It
also prompted supporters to start an online petition demanding justice for Alaa
Massri, 18, one of seven people arrested June 10 during a peaceful protest
against racial injustice. The arrests occurred after demonstrators
spray-painted the Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de León statues in
Bayfront Park, the Miami Police Department said in a statement.
Protestors
covered the face and hands of Columbus in red paint and spray-painted “BLM” and
“George Floyd” at the base. The demonstrations turned chaotic when officers
arrested the vandalism suspects. The police department said in a news release
that some demonstrators assaulted officers and damaged a police vehicle.
“City
of Miami, we support peaceful protests but there will be zero tolerance for
those who hide behind the peaceful protestors to incite riots, damage property,
and hurt members of the public or our officers,” department officials said in a
statement.
Massri
did not immediately return a request for comment Friday, but a Change.org
petition said the college student was aiding injured protesters before her
arrest. The petition had received more than 45,000 signatures as of Friday
afternoon.
Massri
was arrested on suspicion of battery against a police officer, resisting an
officer with violence, and disorderly conduct, according to her arrest report.
At the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, her booking photo
was taken without her hijab, which was not returned to her for the seven hours
she was held there, according to the petition.
But
a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department said
Friday that policies are in place to accommodate people who wear head coverings
for religious reasons.
“Arrestees,
who claim or appear to be of a particular faith, are allowed to keep their
head-covering once it has been searched for contraband and the booking
photograph has been taken,” said Juan Diasgranados, public affairs manager for
the jail.
Omar
Saleh, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim
civil liberties and advocacy group, said that removing religious head coverings
during booking procedures — whether a hijab, yumalke, or turban — is a “severe
violation of religious freedoms.”
Facilities
enforce religious rights differently across Florida, Saleh said, adding “Miami
does not have specific booking procedures relating to Muslim women wearing a
hijab.”
He
said removing religious head coverings during booking procedures violates the
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law that
protects the religious rights of inmates, unless officials can demonstrate that
removing them is necessary to achieve a compelling government interest.
“We
are committed to ensuring that individual’s faith-based beliefs and practices
are respected and will review this incident to ensure compliance with our policies
and this commitment,” Diasgranados said.
The
petition demands the department not pursue charges against Massri and take down
her booking photo from online databases.
“It’s
not isolated. We’ve heard it before, and there have been lawsuits filed across the
nation to rule this practice as unconstitutional,” Saleh said, citing a few
jurisdictions in California and Portland, Maine.
In
April, a Muslim woman filed a federal civil lawsuit in Yonkers, New York,
claiming she was forced to remove her head covering before taking her booking
photo last August. Ihsan Malkawai was arrested on “false allegations of abuse,”
which were later discovered to be unfounded, and was without her hijab for 36
hours until her husband bailed her out of jail, the lawsuit said.
“This
isn’t treatment that’s unique to Muslims, but it’s one where Muslim women who
wear hijabs certainly bear the brunt of,” Saleh said. “There needs to be
change.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/muslim-woman-arrested-miami-protest-forced-remove-hijab-booking-photo-n1231607
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Women’s
Participation In Sports In Saudi Arabia Rose By 149 Percent Since 2015:
Minister
20
June 2020
Women’s
participation in sports in Saudi Arabia has risen by about 149 percent since
2015 as a result of the Kingdom’s wide-reaching reforms over the past few
years, according to Sports Minister Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal.
“We’ve
seen an increase of active women participation in sports by about 149 percent
from 2015 till today. Only five years ago, women were not allowed to
participate in the street but it’s a completely different ball game today,” the
minister said during a webinar organized by the London Business School’s (LBS)
Riyadh Chapter.
In
recent years, the Kingdom has made changes to several government policies and
promoted the inclusion of women in sports in both professional and recreational
activities, he added.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Over
the past five years, 22 women’s national teams have participated in various
competitive regional games, the minister said.
In
February, Saudi Arabia launched its first women’s football league, known as the
official Women’s Football League (WFL).
Female
equestrians were also allowed to ride alongside male equestrians for the first
time in the Kingdom in December 2019 at the Diriyah Equestrian Festival.
The
developments in the sports sector are all part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
plan – a sweeping set of reforms that aims to diversify the country’s economy.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/06/20/Women-s-participation-in-sports-in-Saudi-Arabia-rose-by-149-pct-since-2015-Minister.html
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Years
After Liberation, Syrian Women Still Trying to Recover From Daesh Brutalities
JUN
19, 2020
It
has been four years since Turkey launched its first operation in northern
Syria, Operation Euphrates Shield, with an aim to clear the region of terrorist
elements such as Daesh. However, despite the elapsed time, locals, especially
women, in the liberated Syrian provinces still struggle to leave behind the
trauma of the Daesh occupation as memories from that time continue to haunt
them.
Turkey's
Interior Ministry recently released a booklet on humanitarian security in
liberated northwestern Syria which sheds light on the women's suffering in the
region. The booklet makes a comparison between the past and the present in an
attempt to analyze Turkey's contribution to humanitarian security in the
region. The booklet, which includes interviews with about 300 Syrians from the
provinces of Azaz, al-Rai, Jarablus, al-Bab, Afrin and Jindires, particularly
focuses on the social, economic and psychological troubles that Syrian women
faced during the Daesh occupation.
One
of the main problems that the interviewed women addressed was the inability to
access health services due to Daesh's restrictions. According to the
statements, women were only allowed to be treated by female doctors, which
limited their health access remarkably due to the lack of female doctors in the
region.
"During
the Daesh occupation, we were not allowed to go out. Many patients died since
they were unable to leave the house," a woman from al-Bab said, adding
that there are now three or four doctors in al-Bab, enabling them to go and
receive treatment whenever they need it.
Another
woman expressed that they were unable to see a doctor even if they were allowed
to because of the constant violence on the streets. During the Daesh era,
medical procedures could only be done in al-Bab, the woman added.
According
to the booklet, most of the health problems faced by the women in the region
stem from bearing children at very young ages. This is why a lot of attention
is focused on the health of women and infants. Thanks to the normalization
steps Turkey has taken in the region, there have been reasonable improvements
in women's and children's health, the report says.
A
woman from a health center in Jindires said that thanks to Turkey's efforts,
the locals are now able to receive information on how to stay healthy and avoid
diseases.
The
Daesh terrorist group held vast swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq from
its rise in 2014 until its military defeat last year.
Turkey
was one of the first countries to recognize Daesh as a terror group in 2013,
soon after it emerged. The country has since been attacked by Daesh terrorists
numerous times, including in 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed
attacks that killed 315 people and injured hundreds of others.
In
response, Turkey launched military and police operations at home and abroad to
prevent further terrorist attacks.
Since
2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern
Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, facilitating
the return of 400,000 Syrians who fled the region amid terror threats.
Torture
as common practice for Daesh
When
it comes to personal security, the booklet says that during the Daesh
occupation, people were being executed in the streets while some women were
enslaved and children were forcibly recruited.
Torture
was a common practice among Daesh terrorists, so much so that a public building
in Jarablus turned into a torture center at that time, the report says.
Extrajudicial
executions were another practice for Daesh, which operated in a
"denouncing" system that punished many innocent people without any
proof of a crime committed.
A
local security forces member in al-Bab stated that they were constantly
"facing death" during the Daesh era.
"A
woman was punished for standing in front of her house although she was wearing
a headscarf. She was forced to receive religious education. A man was punished
by being forced to run as the terrorists were shooting toward his feet. He was
punished for his wife's crime, which was not wearing a black veil," he
said.
"They
(Daesh terrorists) were demanding the women they like from their families. If
the father was to object, they would either arrest or kill him. They manage to
get that woman somehow," said another member of the local security forces.
She
added that after three months of marriage, they would marry off the woman to
another Daesh terrorist by simply saying, "I divorce her," and this
cycle was repeated over and over again.
"The
women were being used sexually at all times," she highlighted.
Daesh’s
expansion in Iraq and Syria featured horrendous public abuses. Largely unseen
but equally egregious were the widespread detentions and kidnappings by the
terrorist organizations, in which thousands of people were snatched from their
homes, cars and at checkpoints and subsequently went missing. The terrorist
organization also frequently filmed its members executing the people it
abducted or detained. Daesh systematically committed torture, rapes, forced
marriages, extreme acts of ethnic cleansing, mass murder, genocide, robbery,
extortion, smuggling, slavery, kidnappings and the use of child soldiers.
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war-on-terror/years-after-liberation-syrian-women-still-trying-to-recover-from-daesh-brutalities
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Sexual
threat against HDP leader’s wife backfires as Turks rally around women
Jun
20, 2020
On
June 13, Turkish social media was rocked by a crude threat from a pro-Justice
and Development Party (AKP) account. The target was Selahattin Demirtas and his
wife, Basak Demirtas. Demirtas, the former chair of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish
People's Democratic Party (HDP), has been imprisoned since Nov. 2016 along with
his co-chair Figen Yuksekdag.
Vedat
Muti tweeted that Demirtas “has been in prison while his wife is free,"
saying, "She must be hot by now, one should extinguish her fire.”
Muti
has been arrested, said Mahsuni Karaman, attorney of the Demirtas family. The
complaints against him included intimidation, slander, incitement and sexual
threats, Karaman explained.
Muti’s
Twitter account was suspended. Screen shots provide ample information about his
status as an “AK troll,” as certain pro-AKP social media users are called.
These accounts often display flattering images of Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and most of their followers are others like them.
A
hashtag meaning “We stand with Basak Demirtas" trended and political
figures spoke in solidarity with the Demirtas family, condemning the tweet.
Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul denounced the tweet as well.
Female
politicians and journalists who are critical of the government are frequently
subjected to sexual objectification, rape threats and slurs from such accounts.
It's credited as one of the reasons the number of women in politics is
dwindling in Turkey.
One
of the strongest voices against the offensive words has been that of Meral
Aksener, leader of ultra-nationalist IYI or Good Party. In a searing speech at
the parliament, Aksener said bluntly, “This corruption will continue until the
people who govern over us take a clear stance against it. So I am calling the
government and especially President Erdogan to make their point of view known.”
Aksener
asked that “dirty hands” be kept off women and said these sorts of explicit
sexual threats owe to the indifference of the government.
Such
sexual comments about “lonely” women can have grave consequences. If a woman is
singled out as “lonely,” meaning without a husband — divorced, widowed or
simply home alone — she becomes a social anomaly. A patriarchal society
dictates a woman’s place is with a man, and "lonely" women are the
pariahs. Not virgins but still of childbearing age, they are associated with
promiscuity and their sexuality must be controlled. This perception forces
women to remarry as soon as possible, even into “levirate” marriages, where
widows are compelled to marry their dead husband’s brothers.
This
sort of entitlement can lead to rape and even murder. Systemic rape often goes
unreported as women suffer in silence. In the notorious case of Nevin Yildirim,
for example, she quietly suffered rape for three years while her husband was
working out of town for long periods of time. She got pregnant by her rapist
and the town exploded in gossip. Yildirim murdered the rapist to defend her
honor and was sentenced to life in prison.
The
state’s patriarchal Islamist ideology has made women’s bodies vulnerable. In
its logic, women are the property of men. Each political conflict is seen as a
battle. When the battle is over, the winner can have the loot, including the
women and girls. For example, after the July 15 attempted coup, pro-AKP social
media posts claimed that the “wives of putschists are our trophies.” During the
referendum of 2017, an employee of Istanbul Municipality posted on social media
that it was war, and when those who oppose the presidential system lose the
referendum, “we can have their daughters and wives.”
Suleyman
Demirtas, younger sibling of Selahattin, told Al-Monitor, “These sorts of
threats are made to further polarize society and keep women locked in the house
and obedient to men at all times. The HDP champions women’s struggle for
equality, and it is not a gift or a blessing from the men. Kurdish women and
women who are working in HDP’s ranks have earned it all by themselves. If women
are obedient and subservient to men, this helps the establishment to limit
competition and turn women into servants of men at all levels.”
It
should be noted that although the HDP is a pro-Kurdish party, the movement
embraces all ethnicities.
Gulistan
Kocyigit, an HDP parliamentarian from Mus province, told Al-Monitor how
meticulously the HDP and Kurdish movement have worked over the years to create
an equal representation and a support network among female political activists.
“Our
establishment has been designed around trust,” Kocyigit said. “That encourages
more women to participate in the political process. That is precisely what the
AKP aims to block. These types of attacks signal to women, ‘Politics is not for
you.’ They know and fear that women acting on their own free will are able to
destroy the patriarchal system and mindset."
Kocyigit
provided several examples of how Kurdish women who may have been housewives
only a few years back are now at the forefront of the political process.
Kocyigit also explained that although Kurdish women are specifically targeted,
they are not the only ones that the larger system wants to control. “Even a
white scarf my colleague [Remziye Tosun of Diyarbakir] wears to the parliament
has been made an issue with the patriarchal political system,” said Kocyigit.
Tosun is not a part of the political elite and she is not rich, but she made it
to the parliament as a part of HDP, Kocyigit emphasized.
Huda
Kaya, a HDP parliamentarian from Istanbul, told Al-Monitor, "The words
against Demirtas reflect the government's perspective on women. I have also
been targeted with slurs and threats. In the last weeks, the threats have
intensified from calling for making us into concubines to other offensive words
I will not repeat. These minds rely on the AKP's power. They know there will be
no consequences, no punishment for their acts or words."
“The
Turkish state is a party to the European Council’s Istanbul Convention, which
aims to minimize violence against women. But in practice, this convention is
not in effect," Eren Keskin, a prominent attorney and vice president of
the Turkish Human Rights Association, told Al-Monitor. "All sorts of
violence against women is political. And this is the perspective with which I
approach the violence against Demirtas.”
Within
hours of Keskin’s interview with Al-Monitor, unknown perpetrators broke into
her house to threaten her.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/06/turkey-sexual-threats-against-basak-demirtas-backfire-hdp.html
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